Battles
by Fruipit
Summary: Sometimes sacrifices have to be made to save someone more important than yourself. It doesn't mean either of you have to like it. Tokka! Written for Tokka week (obvs). I hope you enjoy! (and yes, it's unfinished. There will be more!)
1. TLC

"Toph!"

Over the sounds of explosions—of shouts and orders and just people _moving_, messing her about and filling up her poor head with so much action and reaction—Sokka could barely be heard. They had become separated not long into the fight, too distracted with saving their own skins to focus much on the other. He had kept an eye out for her tell-tale bun; she had made sure to track his movements. Watching each other's backs had only stopped when suddenly, instead of the small scouting party of firebenders that had initially attacked, they were overcome by _dozens_ of the bandits, each swinging their own weapon, and each with their own agenda.

"Toph!" Sokka called her name again, glancing around and almost taking a short sword to the shoulder. He managed to duck in time to avoid the worst of it, but the blade still managed to nick him on his upper arm. This was bad. He'd already sustained a few, more minor injuries, but that luck wouldn't last. Whipping around, he plunged his own sword into his opponent's stomach, relishing with a sickly thought the look of pain that came over the other man's face. Taking a breath to compose himself, .he tuned out the typical sounds of battle; the clanging of weapons on weapons, the yells and the screams. He was trying to find the one thing that shouldn't be heard in a battle with Fire Nationals in the Earth Kingdom.

When Zuko had asked the duo to ferret out deserters who had fled to Toph's home nation, Sokka hadn't expected something like _this_. Sure, they were bound to band together, but there were just too many to be purely deserters. They had been... recruiting? Holy spirits, that was bad. They were two days away from the nearest occupied town, and something told Sokka that they didn't want to be found just yet.

A sudden rumble reminded Sokka of what he had been doing before he was distracted, and taking advantage of a brief lull in enemies, he glanced around again.

There! To his left, the small but unmistakeable rumble of earth reached his ears, and fending off bandits—he could be very graceful when need be, with all his dodging and leaping and parrying—he moved towards the noise, relief surging through his veins as he spotted Toph, still upright and fighting. She was sporting a rather nasty slice to her left calf, the blood coagulating and forming a sticky mess as it dribbled down her leg. He could see, even as far away as he was, that she was trying to put as little weight on it as possible. This only made him run faster, and within the span of a dozen heartbeats he was by her side, helping to cut down the enemy before them. Using her arms, punching outwards, Toph began to rock the ground, destabilising the bandits. They backed off slightly, regrouping, encircling. Sokka reached out, and locating Toph's hand, gave it a squeeze. She responded with one of her own, and he knew it would be okay. So long as they were together, nothing could stop them. They just had to get out of this circle.

"Toph, I need you to make a hole and knock them all back for a few moments," he murmured to her. She set her mouth in a grim line, and with a strained nod, pulled her hand from his grasp. He heard her take a deep breath moments before bringing her injured leg up and slamming it to the ground.

Walls of earth shot up, shocking the bandits into moving back a few steps. This gave Toph enough room to work, and with the help of a few hand jabs, the walls toppled over, leaving more than a few men trapped underneath.

That was when she took his hand and _ran_. They were two steps out of the circle when she stumbled with a cry, and it suddenly became him leading her. He had no idea where they were running, but at that moment the only thought was to_get away_. They ran for what felt like hours, and by the time he slowed down, panting hard, he felt like he might faint. Releasing Toph's hand, he took a few more steps forward, reaching up to feel the cut along his shoulder. The wound was deeper than he had thought, and hadn't stopped bleeding. Reaching into his tunic, he was happy to note that the small scrunched-up letter—the entire reason for being out in the countryside in the first place—was intact and legible. Stowing the letter away again, he grabbed the hem of his shirt, ripping it into a long bandage. He was just about to start wrapping his shoulder when he heard a wet cough behind him.

Suddenly remembering his friend, he turned. His eyes travelling up to meet Toph's, he was met with a gaze even glassier than normal. Her hands were pressed to her side, and underneath the small digits, he could see a thick green stain.

"Toph?" He took a slow step towards her, which turned into a short run as she swayed dangerously. He managed to catch her as she coughed again, spitting bloodied phlegm onto the grass.

"Toph!" his voice came out as a harsh whisper, laced with something that her foggy mind couldn't place. Sokka knelt down in front of her and gingerly lifted her shirt up, adrenaline coursing through him at the sight of a light throwing knife's blade, still lodged in her side. The end, which would usually have a handle, was bent, and Toph groaned weakly as he trapped it gently between his fingers and began working it out.

"Tried- tried to get it out," she panted breathlessly, face twisted into a thick grimace. "Could- couldn't. We were... running... I couldn't- _uggh_." She was cut off as the metal finally slipped from her skin. Blood began dripping from it almost straight away, and Sokka could tell why it was so painful—the edges were serrated, making it easy to slip through skin but so much more painful to pull out. He grabbed the crude bandage, but knew straight away it wouldn't be long enough.

"Shit," he hissed, looking around for something else to use.

Toph sucked in a breath, staring over the top of his head as she reached inside her shirt. "My- use my breast band," she said, undoing the knot and letting the material unwind itself. Sokka never realised just how much material her band took up, and was quite satisfied with its length. It didn't take him long to rewrap it around Toph's petite frame. Kneeling in front of her, it didn't take him long to remember the slice on her calf, and telling her to turn around, it was even worse than he thought. Sokka was barely aware of his own injuries as he used the first bandage to wrap her leg. She would need stitches, but he refrained from telling her that.

"We need to go," he said instead, rising to his feet. "Can you walk?" He missed the way her foot twitched at the feel of some distant vibration. Sokka's gaze was focussed on the sun, busy calculating how much time had passed. Too much, by his reckoning. They needed to go if they didn't want the bandits to catch up—and he knew they would try.

"Sokka, I can't..." she began, feeling better with the bandages but still not good enough. "They're coming, Sokka. I can feel them." The Water Tribe boy looked at his friend, and grabbing her hand, began to tug her along.

"We have to go, then," he said, not expecting her to jerk her hand from his grip. "... Toph?"

Toph's head was down, and she took a deep breath to steady herself. There was a painful throbbing in her side, and whatever had numbed the pain enough to walk was gone; she could barely put any weight on her leg. "You have to get that information to Zuko," she started. "Whatever it is must be important. Sokka, I can't... I'll only hold you back." She felt him take a step forward, and the ground seemed to tremble beneath his feet. He didn't say anything for a few moments, and she wondered if he understood what she was telling him.

"Toph, I'm not going to leave you here-"

"No! Idiot, you have to. I'll hold them off, but you need to go. _Now_."

His heart had begun speeding up the moment he realised what she was talking about, and he knew she could feel it. He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it when he realised there was nothing to say. She knew it all anyway.

Even if he had thought of something to say, it would never have escaped his mouth as Toph took a step forward and, grabbing his lapels, pulled him down to meet her. The pressure on his lips should have told him exactly what she was doing, but it was only when she pulled away, eyes shining with unshed tears, that he understood.

"I'll see you at Ba Sing Se," she said, offering a quivering smile. He didn't have time to respond as she pushed herself away and a huge wall of earth erupted between them.

"Toph!" he cried out, finally aware of more than just her—there were thunderous footsteps and the sound of clanging metal. He waited for some kind of prompt, some sign that Toph would be following him, but none came, and he was running without telling himself; escaping when all he wanted was to be with Toph, protecting her.

* * *

_Wooh! Tokka week! Just warning you now that this probably won't be published completely on time because hey, you know, time zones. Also, I haven't finished them yet, either. This will actually follow a plot—it won't just be random one-shots. _

_I haven't finished the next chapter... woops. I'll do it sometime tomorrow afternoon, and hopefully have the third one done as well. I bruised my knee skating (for the third week in a row. I should be used to this) and so have nothing better to do than lie around writing ^^"_

I hope you enjoy it!

Oh, and yes, this is inspired by another story that I actually can't remember the name or link to, but if anyone else does, please tell me. There will be a different plot, but this... introduction is similar, so if anyone knows of the story, just lemme know 


	2. Nap Time

It was strange, Sokka would later muse, how time and distance quelled the familiarity that should come with meeting up with a lost friend. To him, the distinctive smell of Katara, with her strange jasmine and sea-salt mix, was a foreign thing; once upon a time, it would have calmed him to know his sister was so close. Now, it only brought confusion and, when that ended, sorrow and guilt.

He never thought he could miss the smell of sandalwood and petrichor so much.

"Thank _spirits_ you're awake," the young waterbender cried softly, ensnaring her brother in a tight hug before slowly pulling away, a soft smile on her face.

Opening his eyes, Sokka couldn't place where he was. The room was familiar—thick greens and browns, with glowing crystals sticking out from the walls at regular intervals—but no names came to his head. No words, either, and he would later suppose that he had been drugged when the second thought that popped to his head was some abstract concept of 'what words would I be thinking if I could be thinking words?'.

Blinking his eyes, he turned his head a few inches to face Katara directly, though his brain was still rather empty. Shouldn't she be in the Fire Nation? Shouldn't _he_ be elsewhere? Not in a soft bed somewhere in the Earth Kingdom—for it was definitely in that nation—surrounded by more people than he had previously realised. Aang was standing behind Katara, his tattooed hands on her shoulder as he gently rubbed out the knots that had formed. One of Katara's hands was resting on her rounded stomach; the other had somehow worked its way into Sokka's hand, holding gently.

Zuko was standing in one corner, his body rigid. He had in his hand a bloodied sheet of paper that, to Sokka, looked terrifyingly familiar.

The one thing he could place, and he had to be scared of it.

Turning his eyes back to Katara's soft face, he began to notice other little things; the bags under her eyes were slightly larger than they were when he left, and the smile, while not forced, was concealing something behind the dimples and soft eyes.

"Katara." Zuko's raspy voice seemed even harsher to Sokka's ears, and he visibly cringed. Everyone pretended not to notice, but the nonbender still caught the way Aang stood a little straighter, and the way Katara suddenly had a lump in her throat that she couldn't swallow.

Sokka still hadn't said anything, even as Katara murmured something about waiting outside and letting the two older men step forward.

"How are you feeling, Sokka?" Aang asked, his hands, with nothing to do, clasped in front of him with the fingers twitching. "Any pain? What's the last thing you remember?"

If Sokka had been capable of surprise, he would have been at that moment. Too concerned with the 'where' and the 'how', he hadn't even thought of himself. There was an insistent throb in his left shoulder, but it was constant—likely the reason he had completely missed it in the first place. He shifted in place, and aside from knocking a few (what he assumed to be) rather large bruises, he couldn't actually say he was in too much pain.

Then again, he did have an awful feeling that he was forgetting something. Looking at Zuko and Aang's grim faces, he knew he was right.

"I feel fine," he said eventually, voice soft from disuse. "Where am I? The last thing I remember is getting a letter from Zuko, telling me that he needed my help."

The two benders shared a glance, though Sokka was reluctant to call attention to it. He didn't like the sad look in their eyes, and he didn't want to know why they had it in the first place.

Zuko took another step forward, and Sokka could see that his hand was clasped around another object. His attention was forced to the firebender's face when he began talking.

"Sokka, that was almost a month ago. You're in Ba Sing Se," he said. "You've been here for almost three days—Katara refused to leave your side since you were brought in."

"Brought... in?" Inexplicably, Sokka felt his mouth run dry, and he wasn't sure he wanted his friends to keep talking. "Wait..." he said, licking his lips. Aang was avoiding his gaze, the fidgeting spreading along his body. Zuko met his eyes, and Sokka immediately wished he hadn't. "Where's Toph?"

There was a thick silence at first before Zuko—of course it was Zuko—started to explain.

"June found you. You were supposed to rendezvous with Aang and Katara three days ago, but you never showed. We tracked you down to a forest a few miles north-east of the Serpent's Pass, almost a day out of the city."

"We don't... Toph wasn't with you." Aang's voice, deeper than it was seven years prior, was usually so good at soothing people, calming them. Why wasn't it working now? "You were unconscious, holding onto... some stuff..." The monk trailed off, looking incredibly uncomfortable. Sokka didn't want to have to voice his question, and luckily Zuko came through.

"You were holding onto a letter. It's addressed to former Minister Qin, but it's coded, so we don't know what it says yet. It's invaluable to us-"

"Toph's invaluable!" Sokka cried, surprising both boys (and himself) and the volume and insistence of his words. "Why aren't you looking for her? Where is she?"

Sokka could feel himself getting worked up, his heartbeat thundering against his ribcage, but he couldn't help it. He tried sitting up, but his shoulder cried out in objection, and he let himself be pushed back onto the bed by Aang.

"We are looking, Sokka. June has searched everywhere, but they're masking her smell somehow. As far as we can see, they've gone underground again; there are signed of a battle leading away from where you were found, but we... we don't know where she is, or what condition she's in."

At these words, Zuko let go of whatever was in his hand, letting it fall onto the bed next to Sokka's arm. It was with tentative fingers that he reached out and grasped it, a small, choking noise escaping him. It was a blade—_the_ blade. The one he had pulled from Toph's side. He didn't drop it? Why didn't he just drop it?

A sudden surge of memories assaulted him. Getting the letter, meeting up with Zuko in the Fire Nation and being surprised to see Toph. Powerful Fire Nation ministers and generals had escaped to the Earth Kingdom, Zuko said, and he needed two people welcome in the expansive nation to collect them. Sokka could feel the reason that he and Toph were needed—it was right there, on the tip of his tongue—but he couldn't quite place it. Something about Kuei and the confusion his return had caused...

He and Toph were taken to Kyoshi Island; a sovereign state, Zuko's relationship with Suki (friendship! Friendship!) meant that it was still possible for Fire Nation citizens to arrive to the Earth Kingdom. All other ports were guarded for Fire Nation ships, and it was just... painful, trying to get through customs. After travelling from Kyoshi to the village of Chin, the duo made their way north, asking innkeepers and keeping an ear out at taverns for talk. Toph was better than he was at fire-ferreting our information, but he was better at interrogating people. There was something to be said about a wild-eyed Water Tribe warrior wielding a boomerang, a blind, barefoot earthbender tapping her heel impatiently behind him.

They followed the trail all the way north, up beyond the Serpent's Pass and to the east. Instead of drowning, they were able to walk all the way because they actually remembered Toph could earthbend a bridge for them.

Then, everything went wrong.

The thought they could take whoever it was—there may have been a group of them, about two dozen, but Toph and Sokka were experts. They had done this a hundred times—a thousand. They had survived a war; surely they could take on a group of Fire Nation exiles?

Perhaps they could, but they didn't realise how many were skilled firebenders or weapons-masters. They didn't realise that they were meeting up with a small army; Toph was too focused on the enemy at hand to feel one approaching...

... And then she helped him get away. She sacrificed herself so he could escape...

Sokka didn't realise how long he had been silent until the bed compressed as Aang sat down. Sokka swallowed thickly, trying to keep whatever was in his chest from bubbling into his throat.

"Promise me you'll find her," he said eventually, voice low. He didn't want to explain what had happened—they didn't need to know. "They came from the east shore. There was a town two days travel north. They-" He took a moment to compose himself, the tightness in his throat making it too hard to continue. "There are too many of them to travel fast or far. They'll still be in the area."

Aang and Zuko shared another look—_spirits_, he was sick of that—but this time, neither said anything.

"Promise me you'll find her," he insisted again. His voice was strong, but low; he couldn't make it louder even if he wanted to. "Please, just promise..."

Aang gave a grim nod. "We'll find her," he swore. "Get some rest, Sokka. We'll find her."

* * *

_Okay, sorry this is so late. My grandfather is in hospital and I just started back at uni and... well, it's been hectic. You'll be please to know, though, that I actually have a plan, and I know what I'm writing. Yeah, this chapter is a little slow—I'm sorry! D: —but it will get better. There will be another fight (because I need to practise my action sequences), but that doesn't mean Sokka will find Toph. And if he does, what condition will she be in?_

_Don't forget to review! I hope you enjoy it :3_


	3. Know When to Hold 'Em

They hadn't found her.

He was antsy and twitchy, and Katara wasn't making it any better. She had a horrible bedside manner, and deep down he knew she was just as terrified for Toph, just as worried. He still wasn't able to cut her any slack, though, and three days after waking up he sent her scurrying from the room in tears. He could chalk it up to the pregnancy hormones, and truthfully, he wanted to, but that would certainly be a lie.

Oh, he was grateful for his sister, but he didn't really want to be around anyone. Well, Toph, but that was a given. He refused to think of the last time he saw her, instead focusing on pretty much every _other_ time he saw her. How could they not find her? They had June—they were the Fire Lord and the Avatar. Two of the most powerful people in the world, and they couldn't track down one rebel group?

Two days after that, he was confined to bed after catching pneumonia—his weakened body wasn't able to fight off the infection as well as it should, and Katara actually ordered guards to make sure he didn't escape.

Aang and Zuko updated him as much as possible, but with each failure to locate her, he became more and more withdrawn. Sokka felt torn between curling into himself and ignoring the world, or jumping up and demanding answers. A week after losing her, he wasn't even able to get out of bed, so weak did he feel. His heart dropped a little further, got a little smaller. His illness passed and his bruises healed, but that was all physical. There was something in his heart, something so terribly, achingly familiar, he wanted to just rip it out. It was guilt.

He just wanted to cry, but he was a man, a warrior. He couldn't save Toph by crying, by being weak. But he'd never been able to save anyone. Not Yue, not his mother. Everyone would be better off if he didn't try so hard, because trying always meant that you could fall and fail and take everyone you loved with you. He never deserved a friend like Toph.

Almost subconsciously, he lifted his fingers to his lips. Everything was blurry, even that moment, but he could still remember enough. The way she pulled him down and suddenly there was pressure, scratchy, chafed, against his mouth.

And then... she wasn't there anymore. She was gone, to save him- to _protect_ him, she was gone.

He felt the pressure rise behind his eyes when there came a knock at the door. Sokka blinked rapidly, glancing over to find Aang standing there, eyes downcast. Sokka followed his gaze to an innocuous piece of parchment.

"A courier just delivered this letter," he said. "You- you should read it."

Sokka swallowed thickly, nodding. Slower than he ever remembered seeing Aang move, the airbender walked over to his bed. He handed the paper over, and Sokka suddenly didn't want to read it. It couldn't be _bad_, could it? Aang wouldn't let him read bad news—he would break it softly, gently.

Hands trembling slightly, he unfolded the paper. The first thing he noticed was the thick, blocky writing. Some of the characters were almost illegible. The second was the presence of blood, confusing him. It wasn't droplets, nor was it thick. It was more like a paintbrush with too little paint, spread thinly over a canvas.

_Avatar,_

_We have your precious earthbending friend. If you want to see her alive, you are to send a messenger hawk with the letter you stole to Jiqiren village. This must be completed by the full moon. We will not hesitate to kill your friend, but we don't want her. We just want the letter._

Sokka turned the paper over, half expecting there to be more writing, but unsurprised to find it unmarked. His eyes were drawn to several key points, and he shut his eyes, thinking. Toph was alive. That's what mattered.

"Jiqiren village is to the east," he began. "Toph and I stopped there because it's notorious for housing criminals. Honour amongst thieves." Aang stood silently, and Sokka continued. "Toph isn't dead. If she was, they wouldn't have a bargaining chip. They know that someone is going to go to the village to make sure everything goes smoothly, which means they're near the area. They won't risk having her out in the open, though. They'll keep her hidden until they have what they want."

"What makes you think they'll give her back?" Aang asked, voice soft. Sokka didn't take any note of it.

"Two reasons: one, they don't want to draw too much attention. Not giving her back would result in a fight, something I doubt they want to occur against the Avatar. Two, they mean what they say about not wanting her. 'We _just_ want the letter'—they aren't interested in her. She's only being used as a bargaining chip, and they have nothing against us personally. Their anger rests in diplomats. Zuko, Kuei—they're the real targets. When's the next full moon?"

"Just under a week," Aang answered. "But, Sokka-"

"Aang," the elder boy interrupted, "don't worry, I have a plan."

"Yes, but-"

"We aren't giving them the letter."

There was a thick pause. Aang blinked several times, and Sokka looked far too cheerful for someone who had been almost completely despondent only a few hours earlier.

"..._What_? Look, Sokka, you don't understa-"

"No! I understand perfectly, Aang," he interrupted, the smile replaced by a hard glare. Perhaps it was only hiding it as the pressure started up again behind his eyes. "She's my best friend, Aang. I'd do anything to get her back, but this? This will end badly if we listen to them."

"How do you know that? Toph is out there, injured, and you're saying they _won't_ kill her?!" Sokka threw himself back into his pillow, arm covering his eyes. Aang continued. "Sokka, they've hurt her. We need to get her back as soon as possible. There's no time for your theories or hopes. We have to return the letter to save her. I'm not losing my friend."

"And you think I want to, Aang?" Sokka demanded. He pulled his arm away just so he could wipe at the tears that had gathered at his eyes. "We can't return it _because_ she's our friend. She sacrificed herself to get that information, Aang. She sacrificed it because she believes that taking these people out is more important than herself. I won't let her have done that in vain. I won't. We'll figure something else out because I'm not going to lose the letter, but I'm not going to lose her.

"Now, you can help me come up with a plan, or you can give the letter back. But, Aang. I'll never forgive you if you do that, and Toph won't either. There is another way. We just have to find it."

Aang had bowed his head by this stage, and he was trying—and failing—to surreptitiously wipe his own eyes. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out for a few seconds. "We got something else," he said eventually, rushed, like he didn't want the words to fester in his mouth. "In the letter, there was something else."

He reached inside his robes and brought out a small bag. Sokka watched him gulp, and there was a curdling feeling in his gut that he couldn't shake. A shiver rand up his spine, and he wondered briefly it Aang could influence the temperature of the room.

"I'm sorry, Sokka," he said, not handing the package over yet. "This is why I wanted to save her. I can't... we need to get her out, with or without handing over the letter." He stood and let the bag fall to Sokka's lap. "I'm sorry," he said again, before finally leaving Sokka alone.

The Water Tribe warrior just looked at the small, innocuous bag. Such a little thing shouldn't set his teeth on edge, shouldn't induce a painful chill that refused to cease running along his spine, but it did. He hadn't realised his hands were trembling until he made to pick up the bag. It was so light, it felt like there was nothing in it at all, though the thought did little to curb Sokka's apprehension.

He carefully undid the straps, tipping the contents into the palm of his hand. For one, terrifying moment, he thought someone was playing a cruel prank. Mere milliseconds later, he came to his senses, a freezing grip around his chest. His whole body was numb, like he had just jumped into an ice-fishing hole. His vision became blurred, but even the hot tears did nothing to thaw out his heart. He could understand now, why Aang had been so supportive of just handing back the letter, but he couldn't take back his words now. It _hurt_, but everything remained the same. He wouldn't let Toph's sacrifice be for nothing.

Carefully, gingerly, he tipped the small objects in his hand back into the bag. One, two, three... ten... twenty. Twenty nails, from the hands and feet of Toph Beifong.

* * *

_A/N: Spirits, it takes me ages to do anything. This is sort of not what I meant to do, but I forget what I had actually planned ^^" woops. This is late and I have no excuses, but my mid-semester break is next week, so expect a few updates (hopefully. Maybe I should say 'hope for' a few updates :S). Anyways, I don't usually write things like this (yeah, de-nailing people is at the top of my list) so any thoughts are doubly super appreciated :3_


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